NYC Makes Big Earth Week Commitments On Green Energy, Renewables

New York City NY

22 April, 2021

3:24 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — The fossil-fueled New York City of 2021 will be a greener, more sustainable city in the years and decades to come, Mayor Bill de Blasio promised. De Blasio this week — Earth Week — made a slate of environmental pledges committing the city to clean energy. By 2025, all of city government will run off of renewable energy from freshly inked hydropower deal, de Blasio said this week. He also said the city will launch a geothermal energy pilot program that could end up powering 130,000 buildings and plans to sue Big Oil companies. "Today, I'm committing to a 100 percent electric school bus fleet for New York City by 2035," he said Thursday. The city is under its own version of a "Green New Deal" that commits to lower emissions and other carbon goals. De Blasio, who is entering his final term as mayor, appears keen on burnishing his environmental legacy as the city moves from the coronavirus pandemic. "COVID is going to recede, it's going to be less and less of what we think about by the end of this year," he said this week. "More and more of our attention is going to go into climate, where it needs to be." Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced commitments to hydropower and renewable energy. (NYC Mayor's Office)The city will launch a geothermal energy pilot program that could eventually power thousands of buildings, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. (NYC Mayor's Office)The electric school bus announcement was joined by Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter, who showed off the first in the upcoming fleet parked outside City Hall. "This bus will become a part of what over the next 20 years will be 100 percent of our fleet going fully electric," she said. "We can't afford to waste any time in the fight against climate change, and that is why this bus is going to be heading out on the streets and carry children next week," Ben Furnas, director of the mayor's office of sustainability, said. "And that is why over the next two years, we're going to be bringing 75 more electric buses to the streets of our city."